15th May 2009, 11:42

Yeah the Acclaim was a super-cheap bargain-basement value car from the start. Still is. They're quite reliable and durable, and the 2.5 four cylinder is a good motor with a good little 3 speed auto transmission.

Best thing about the Acclaims was space - very roomy. We used them as taxis coming off rental car use back in the late 1990s.

15th May 2009, 15:05

I used to have a 91 Acclaim (3L engine I guess) for 3 years when I was at university. I bought it for 1000 CAD and was overall happy with it. For sure I spent a few hundred bucks on it to repair something here or there, but I'm not sure what could serve me better with less expense. Let's live in the real world and accept that buying a 16 year old car, we are assuming our money is thrown away; if we take anything out of it we've won!

7th Sep 2010, 14:10

I think when you post a comment, you need to realize you are also telling everyone about you. Sometimes you tell them more about you than the car.

When evaluating anything, one good idea is to try and take it back to simple math. Instead of using subjective terms like crap, say the car cost me $2000 and I got 1000 miles of use out of it. In other words, the facts, just the facts man.

1992 Plymouth Acclaim 2.4L 4 cylinder. from North America

Summary:

This one seems to be an indestructible beast

Faults:

I bought this car from my mechanic in 2003 when my wife suddenly needed a second vehicle. He said it was a good car and he was right. I paid $1500 for it and decided, at that price, I was not going to put much in the way of repairs into it. However, it soon became my car and I used it to get to work, 90 miles each way on a freeway for two years. By then I had put nothing into it and my mechanic said he could get me another few years for not a whole lot of money. Front brakes, serpentine belt, timing belt, exhaust system, front axle seals and a tune-up later (total spent: $800; my mechanic's a keeper!). This car is still running; we've owned it for four years and have put a total of 80,000Km on it, with no more repairs. It's reverted back to my wife's car and I'm on my second year with a 1994 Caravan bought from the same mechanic for, again, $1500.

General Comments:

I would own another one of these things any time. It's not pretty to look at, but it's comfortable for its size and it just runs and runs and runs. On a cost-per-year basis, I've never had a vehicle as good as this. If it wants to keep running (and it shows no signs of stopping), I'll keep it another four years.